{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>But they are right to inculcate the giving of alms proportioned\r\nto past sins; for if they said that any kind of alms\r\ncould obtain the divine pardon of great sins committed daily\r\nand with habitual enormity, if they said that such sins could\r\nthus be daily remitted, they would see that their doctrine\r\nwas absurd and ridiculous. For they would thus be driven\r\nto acknowledge that it were possible for a very wealthy man\r\nto buy absolution from murders, adulteries, and all manner of\r\nwickedness, by paying a daily alms of ten paltry coins. And\r\nif it be most absurd and insane to make such an acknowledgment,\r\nand if we still ask what are those fitting alms of\r\nwhich even the forerunner of Christ said, \"Bring forth therefore\r\nfruits meet for repentance,\"<a id=\"FNanchor_942_942\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_942_942\">[942]</a> undoubtedly it will be found\r\nthat they are not such as are done by men who undermine\r\ntheir life by daily enormities even to the very end. For\r\nthey suppose that by giving to the poor a small fraction\r\nof the wealth they acquire by extortion and spoliation they\r\ncan propitiate Christ, so that they may with impunity\r\ncommit the most damnable sins, in the persuasion that they<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_466\">[Pg 466]</a></span>\r\nhave bought from Him a licence to transgress, or rather\r\ndo buy a daily indulgence. And if they for one crime have\r\ndistributed all their goods to Christ's needy members, that\r\ncould profit them nothing unless they desisted from all similar\r\nactions, and attained charity which worketh no evil. He\r\ntherefore who does alms-deeds proportioned to his sins must\r\nfirst begin with himself. For it is not reasonable that a man\r\nwho exercises charity towards his neighbour should not do so\r\ntowards himself, since he hears the Lord saying, \"Thou shalt\r\nlove thy neighbour as thyself,\"<a id=\"FNanchor_943_943\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_943_943\">[943]</a> and again, \"Have compassion\r\non thy soul, and please God.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_944_944\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_944_944\">[944]</a> He then who has not compassion\r\non his own soul that he may please God, how can he\r\nbe said to do alms-deeds proportioned to his sins? To the\r\nsame purpose is that written, \"He who is bad to himself, to\r\nwhom can he be good?\"<a id=\"FNanchor_945_945\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_945_945\">[945]</a> We ought therefore to do alms\r\nthat we may be heard when we pray that our past sins may\r\nbe forgiven, not that while we continue in them we may\r\nthink to provide ourselves with a licence for wickedness by\r\nalms-deeds.</p>","headings":["THE CITY OF GOD.","BOOK TWENTY-FIRST.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45305-paragraph-735"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"823c247b611a96f218137018220e2d7dbc37e0f6ab94477a02a346051178e182","edition_title":"The City of God, Volume II","edition_translators":["Marcus Dods","George Wilson (Books XVII-XVIII)"],"edition_year":1871,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"MAT","chapter":22,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Matt. xxii. 39","verse":39,"verse_end":39}],"headings":[],"id":"pg45305-Footnote_943_943","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Original transcription title leaves state T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1871; printed translator allocation retained. Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_943_943","source_ebook":45305,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_943_943\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_943_943\"><span class=\"label\">[943]</span></a> Matt. xxii. 39.</p></div>","source_sha256":"7e0ced9e70512f3cf050b53c9d548e36b70d468d875153869f95d8aff5bbb530","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45305/pg45305-images.html#Footnote_943_943","text_sha256":"fe3e3872c0eb0c34dd82131fd7084f7ad89380bf4e9405f1eebf865cd4c9593f","verified":false,"work_id":null}